Music discoveries: Out with Miley Cyrus, in with Dog Party

Wednesday

Jun 5, 2013 at 7:00 PMJun 5, 2013 at 7:08 PM

Oh, Miley. I really, really want to encourage you in your rebellious streak right now. Honestly. Go hang out with Snoop Lion. It's totally cool. Way I figure it, the more artistic distance you put between yourself and your father and his achey-breaky heart, the better. It's the only way we're going to get interesting music out of you. And I think you're capable of it. Someday. But your latest offering, “We Can't Stop,” while a step in the right direction, is kind of missing something, some sort of spark that makes the listener believe that the one-time country girl is now enmeshed in the ecstasy-tinged molly rap world. You can set the Autotune to Rihanna levels all you want, but there's something completely inauthentic about your mantra, “It's our party and we'll do what we want.”

It's not that I don't believe you're really out there partying. I'm sure you are. That's not really what I'm getting at. And I don't even particularly care about your glamorizing drug culture here, because a certain Lizard King put paid to that bit of moral high ground years ago. But the thing is, you've just traded one pre-fab pop cliché — the good girl teen idol — for another one — the party girl. And whatever. I'm not the target audience.

But I like that you're trying, and in that attempt to trash everything you've ever been to the ground — while still remaining marketable — I find you utterly convincing.

In the meantime, my disappointment — predictable as it was — was assuaged by the discovery of the song “Jet Pack,” by Dog Party.

Writes Spin, “The two sisters that make up Dog Party may be young — Gwen and Lucy Giles are 17 and 14 years old, respectively — but they've been playing music together since elementary school. On August 13, the Sacramento wunderkinds will release their third Dog Party LP, 'Lost Control.' Ahead of that milestone, we've got 'Jet Pack,' a sugary 'us-against-the-world' summer anthem that draws a line from the Shangri-Las to the Ramones to Best Coast. Who needs a high school diploma when you've got pop chops that sharp?”

And I really don't have much to add to that. This is just a big, fun garage rocker of a song, and it's absolutely awesome. But I will say that the yearning that permeates the song — for freedom, for love, for the sky itself — is palpable. It's not a pose. I believe every inch of it. (Victor D. Infante)